My signature watercolor set of Aquarius paints

I have a pleasure to introduce you my signature set of Aquarius watercolors. You probably already know these watercolors from numerous reviews on the Internet, and perhaps also from my previous post New watercolors. This time I have something special for you and it certainly is something special for me, because I would never expect that someday I would see a set of watercolors with my painting and my name on the cover. Incredible!

Colors in the set

The set includes carefully selected colors creating a multipurpose palette suitable for painting every theme, with particular emphasis on floral motifs. Here we have the colors that I use most often. I had to limit myself to 12, which was not an easy task, but somehow I did it. I always try to paint with single-pigmented paints, if it is possible, that’s why in this set the majority of colors is single-pigmented, with one exception.

The basis is six colors from the split primary system: cool yellow – Aquarius Yellow PY168 (304), warm yellow – Hansa Yellow Medium PY74 (206), cool red – Magenta PR122 (332), warm red – Pyrrol Red PR254 (210 ), cool blue – Phthalo Blue GS PB15: 3 (103), warm blue – Ultramarine Blue GS PB29 (222). This basic set is supplemented with an additional versatile, transparent yellow Nickel Azo Yellow PY150 (308), which can be the basis for such colors as Quinacridone Gold (mixed with Quinacridone Burnt Sienna PO48 (349)) or Sap Green (mixed with Phthalo Blue GS PB15 : 3 (103)). This color also blends well with reds and blues to create a whole range of beautiful shades of orange and green. The set also includes Quinacridone Red PV19 (331), which is an intermediary between the cooler Magenta and the warmer Pyrrol Red. Quinacridone Red is a basic pink, very useful for painting flowers and creating violets, skin colors and salmon shades. Although the colors in this palette can easily create a wide range of greens, the set also includes Hooker’s Green PY150, PB27 (342) – ready-made, beautiful, deep, natural green that can be used successfully alone or can be the basis for further mixtures. I must admit that this is the most beautiful natural-looking green I’ve seen, I love it. The whole is complemented by a set of three shades of earth colors: yellowish – Natural Sienna Light PY43 (108), reddish Quinacridone Burnt Sienna PO48 (349) and naturally dark, earthy Cyprus Burnt Umber PBr7 (128). The last two mixed e.g. with Ultramarine Blue form a wide range of neutral grays to deep blacks.

About the set

The box was designed by a Polish watercolor artist Andrzej Gosik, who in my opinion did a great job. I really like the arrangement of all elements. The colors are intense and the butterfly on the front looks very nice. On the back we have color swatches from the set. As this is print – you can’t expect colors to look identical to real watercolors on paper, but these are illustrative colors and we have a chance to see what we can expect in the set. Each color has a number, name in Polish and English, and pigment numbers.

TIP: Each pan has an additional protective piece of waxy paper. The consistency of some paints is more gooey and sticky because of honey which is one of the ingredients. When you will be removing the protective piece of paper the paint may stick to it. To avoid that it’s a good idea to put the paints to a freezer for an hour or two. After that time the protective paper will come off easily. You can also try to remove by pulling the paper in one quick move.

Where to buy

All Aquarius watercolors by Roman Szmal are now available at Jackson’s Art. So if you like you can order individual colors to test them out. My set is also available there: CLICK.

These are the examples of paintings painted with Aquarius watercolors.